SNOWDEN CRUSHES HIS CRITICS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 250, 25 November 1914, Page 8

SNOWDEN CRUSHES HIS CRITICS.

At a crowded meeting on Novembei 23, which reached the limit in criticism and In indignation, Philip Snowdea ripped up the slander aM insinuations levelled at him by the liquor trade. In a series of expiensive advertisements ho had been charged with disloyalty, poltroonery, and inconsistency. Hear his replies:— r << A GREAT ENGL ANDER. *' ; He has been charged with speaking disparagingly of England. It was an unmitigated lie. His life was his answer. For twenty years he had tried to promote international peace and a better understanding between the democracies of the world, because he believed that the war problem"would never be solved in the courts of kings, nor in the chambers of diplomacy, but by the peoples of the different nations having a better understanding with each other. His views of foreign policy he shared with the whole of the Radical Party, the whole Labour movement, and ninetenths of the Liberal Party of tha United Kingdom. It was sufficient answer to accusations of disloyalty tto point out that the late King, Edward had . appointed him to one Royal Commission, and the present King to two Royal Commissions. He claimed that the confidence of two. Kings was a suifijcient reply to liquor taunts of disloyalty. -

A POLTROON FORSOOTH. It was - charged against him that he was betraying the trust of liia constituents fay touring the world in war time. ' ' "■ r-v.-

His answer was that he left England at a time when the Chancellor ha<l declared our foreign relationship to be excellent, ami not a war cloud appeared . oil the horizon, at a ,tinie when Parlia- • nient stood prorogued till February, 1915. He left it for his first holiday for twenty, years, s that he might study and further social, reforms in Canada and Australia and India. He <was west' of the Rockies when the war broke out,' and his commitments made the completion of his tour essential. THE SHAMELESS MENDACITY Of? LIQUOR ADVERTISERS. Mr Snowden showed to . what depth of literary villainy the, liquor'advertisers could descend. He had been quoted - as saying that local option in New,: Zea~ land was a failure. The quotation, was. from page .131 of "Socialism and the - Drink Traffic," and the liquor hack had altered the text, writing '' New Zealand" for "England." Amoag honest people, such falsification is, garded -as the depth of literary depravity. He had been accused of saying, f * tlratttemperance had made no progress, iu England/for a lojog time past. v Yet % whole chapter of the book (II.)-vis devoted to the progress of the.- ■movement...■ He had been accused of attributing to Mr Gladstone the statement that "itProhibition pretends to the honour of remedy it is little abetter than an imposture. '' Mr ■ Gladstone did, not, - say that in connection with the suppression of licenses, and he (Mr ,Siiomlen) "hadnot quoted him as doing so. Mr Gladstone was referring to. the'MERE REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER Off • proposal to x6<Jueo - the number of licenses here and leave ample facilities for getting* drink still available. It had been "published by arrangethat lie had made the following statement on page 171 i' "The public must provide for the satisfaction of the demand for, liquor in moderation, " - 4 This alleged quotation stopped short ia the middle of ■■& sentence, ,tlie comma was 1 not in his book, and the •wliol® 7 quotation was as follows:—^-

"The publicmust provide for; th#satisfaction of tile deuiania for liquttr in moderation so long as; the peopte consider moderate drinking to v Jb« a legitimate and reasonable thing;'' That was only democratic. While the people. regarded tlie existence of the public-bouse as reasonable and; legitimate, it must continue; when they; regar <&& it as unreasonable and illegitimate, it must go out of existence.. ; Referring to industrial conditions, ho had dealt with tlje grossly immoral' trade in women in Chicago,' and tlie writer of the articles "published by arrangement, "made it appear that this, immoralityj existed side by side wit4i Prohibition. Illinois was not a Prohibition; State. Prohibition did not exist in Chicago; the liquor trade there, had an unbridled license; and he personally had no doubt whatever that the "connection was very close indeed LetWeeu such vice and drink. JsO "RIP VAN WINKLE." ■Mr Snowden decared that his book, " Socialism and the Drink Traffic^' was now eight years old, and though substantially he stood by it to-day> his parliamentary, labour, and socialistic experience and work had iuduced-hiuvto modify his views on temperahee in some Respects; : biit the only never altered their views were - the, Rip van Winkles avlio went to sleep for twenty years. ; //' Conditions in New Zealand are so much more advanced than in England, that the problem in practically all its essentials was different. He had been blamed for not dealing with the drink question in his book. "SOCIALISM AND SYNDICALISM." To condemn him, as was done, for not referring to the drink question in that book was like condemning a maii ata atheist because he wrote a book on •electricity and did not refer once to re* ligion in it. < He was accused of saying tliait the problem of poverty could not be solved by the - simple expedient of universal |abstinence from liquor. That -was what ,lie had said from every, public platform for many years, and; every sensible man knew it was true. • There were causes of .poverty apart/.-from drink; but one of the reasons for abolishing drink was to make the road easier for economic reform. /, v> Mr Snowden, in concluding liis overpowering vindication, challenged' the Liquor People to publish his printed statements on the direct relation between liquor and vice and immorality. He made his usual logical appeal to New Zealanders to abolish the traffic by STRIKING OUT BOTH TOP, LINES ON DECEMBER 10. i (Published by Arrangement.)